Resolve

It's that time of year again, when people start thinking about everything they've botched up the previous year and what they'd like to change in the coming year.  Or at least what they'll complain about botching up next year. 

Like most other Americans, I have some fairly predictable resolutions:  Spend less, save more, lose weight, spend more time with enriching hobbies and less with the unfruitful ones. 

Still, this post over at Shamus's blog had me thinking about my own little corner of the internet.  I always did like blogging, even when my only hits were the three friends who would check in a day, various trolls, and random Google hits that didn't result in anyone actually sticking around to read something.  I really do regret letting the blog sit more or less fallow this year. 

I think part of the problem is that I just don't have the same passions as I did when I started this back in college.  I used to write a lot about philosophy and religion then, but I was exposed to so much more at the time.  These days I just don't have the same exposure to material to inspire anything worth writing about (which is probably an indictment of my reading habits, if nothing else). 

News commentary and criticism?  Eh, perhaps, but it's not like there isn't enough of that going on.  Plus, college newspapers always made it so easy, given the goofy things that they'll publish. 

Science writing?  I actually wish I did more of that.  I'm about to finish Ben Goldacre's book (which deserves its own post, really), and it's definitely inspired me to write more about responsible science.  It's the sort of thing I'd enjoy getting paid to do, although it would mean writing more and writing better.  I'm no slob with the written word, but I've been lazy, and there's plenty of people out there willing to bang out 500 words about why some study or other is a bunch of horse pucky.  If I want to go that direction, I'll need to step my game up.

Video games?  Goodness knows that occupies enough of my writing anyhow, little though it is.  Unfortunately, most of what I play these days is World of Warcraft, and I can really only write so much about that.  Oh, there's an audience for it, but I don't want that to be my occupying focus. 

It was suggested to me that getting back into blogging would be easier if I refocused the blog.  Having a clear purpose would help, and feeling passionate about my topic(s) would go even further.  I'm still not sure what that is, but at least I know that I need to figure it out.  Probably not the most exciting resolution, but it's a start.

Happy New Year, folks, and good luck in 2011.

Sending a message

I wonder how Facebook decides on which ads it shows you when you surf their pages. This is what I saw today:

Exactly what are you trying to tell me, Facebook?

The Beginning of Wisdom

There's something very odd about being in a lab where you don't really know any of the experimental techniques. I'm starting to suspect the following is true in most areas of life, but current circumstances have brought it to mind.

When you're ignorant of something, is it better to find the information on your own, or to go to an expert and seek their assistance? When is one path better than the other?

This is not usually easy to determine. Experiments which are commonly done in the lab can be tricky. Sometimes when I need a ubiquitous reagent or piece of plasticware, someone will be happy to point it out to me. Other times I'll be told to, "Just go look for it." Sometimes I'm confused about the exact nature of the protocol, since my tutorial involved very general outlines. If I ask someone about, say, precise volumes or concentrations or reagents to add, sometimes I'm told what I seek. Sometimes I'm told to just go "find a protocol on Google." Other times I'm given such a run-around it's silly. "Hm . . . I don't remember. Why don't you go ask that guy?" It's even better when I get to the end of the chain, usually three or four people down the line, and they question the experiment in the first place. "Why would you run that? It won't work and won't show you what you want to do? Here's a different three-day experiment you need to run instead."

Perhaps there is no set answer, but I find that I have a difficult time knowing when to take one path or the other. I suppose figuring out the difference is a large part of success in this field.

Long term savings?

This was just a little thought experiment, so try not to take this too seriously. I saw someone quote some numbers recently to the effect that a Prius gets ~46 mpg, while a comparably sized standard vehicle gets 31 mpg. The price difference between these vehicles was said to be $7000.

So, I thought to myself . . . how long do you have to drive that Prius to make up the price difference?

Feel free to check my math, but here's the formula I used:

ΔE * G * M = Δ$

Where ΔE is the difference in fuel efficiency of the vehicles, G is the cost of gasoline, and M is the number of miles you have to drive to make up Δ$, the difference in cost between the two vehicles. Efficiency, in this case, has to be put in gallons per mile to work out properly.

Anyhow, I estimate that if gasoline were running $4/gal. again, you'd have to drive that Prius for 175k miles to make up that $7k price difference.

That's not a good number, especially because it only gets higher when gasoline is cheaper. This also doesn't take into account any differences in maintenance costs, since I have no idea what that might be. Unless you're driving that car a lot, it's going to take a very long time to make up the price difference on gasoline costs, and it's entirely possible that by the time you've driven the car that much, vehicles at least as efficient (if not more) will be similarly priced as the non-hybrid.

I only bring this up because I heard on the radio this morning that part of Obama's plans for reducing government cost is to make all government buildings more energy efficient. I don't know what goes into such measures, but I'm betting it will be expensive. The question is, however, what's the return on investment? Or more precisely, how long will that building have to stand before that investment is returned?

If it's anything like our Prius example above, it could be decades before that cost is made up, which seems like the intent is more to pander to environmental groups than offer any substantive benefit to the tax payer. Perhaps I'm just being cynical, but I haven't heard anybody challenging him on this one yet.

A retrospective on December 31

Most years, at the start of the new year, I tend to think about where I'm heading, what I want to accomplish, and how I want my life to change in the twelve months to come. Given how much of my life is up in the air for 2009, my thoughts have been drawn more to previous years and what my perspectives were at the time.

On Dec. 31, 2008, I was playing cards with my cousin and his wife. I'm in Maryland studying immunology and wondering where my studies will take me in the next few years, when I'll ever find a girlfriend, and whether I'll be home before next Christmas for any reason besides my sister's graduation.

On Dec. 31, 2007, I was in Chicago, celebrating with college buddies at a party which was sparsely attended due to a foot of fresh snow. I was excited about having just earned my MS and incredibly confused as to where I would end up for my PhD work.

On Dec. 31, 2006, I was with my cousin and his wife, again, but this was a party, so there were many others as well. I was working my my MS, still sore about having left Northwestern, and trying to figure out if I'd ever get over my ex-girlfriend.

On Dec. 31, 2005, I was in Evanston, at a party with Northwestern people. My girlfriend was visiting at the time, so she was there as well. I was spending quite a bit of time then wondering whether I would make it at Northwestern and hoping that the classes would not be as crushingly difficult as I feared they would be. I'd also just started doing research with my new PI, and I was very hopeful about where it was heading.

I could go further back, but I find the retrospective helpful. It's interesting what things we're worried about at various times in our lives and how those thing change over the course of just a year. One year doesn't seem like that much time, but when I look back at prior New Year's eves, it seems like an eternity.

I don't know what the coming year holds for me, but I'll wish all of you the best for the next twelve months.

Being Thankful

This is a strange year for me. It's the first year that I'll celebrate Thanksgiving away from home. When I was in college, I managed to get away each year to go home and enjoy the holiday with my family, but this year it's just not in the cards. I suppose I could curse my program for scheduling an exam the Monday after, but that's just the way the schedule turned out.

However, my parents and sister did come into town this past weekend, and we celebrated Thanksgiving together Sunday evening. It wasn't quite the same, but it means the world to me that they took the effort all the same.

There's no real point to this post, I suppose. I just wanted to share that story. Whatever your circumstances this year for the holiday, be thankful for what you have.

Cool your jets

Woo! Everyone who has ever made fun of me for using this word can eat those words! I totally called this!

Er, um, ahem. I mean, uh, whatever. Who cares? Not like it's worth getting excited about or anything.

Which is kinda how I feel about the exam I have in 2 hours. Is it Christmas yet?

Why so serious?

My blog posts have been just a tad to infrequent lately, and it seems like those few posts that do emerge are a bit serious. It's Saturday, why not lighten the mood?

First up, we have Mr. Green Genes, a cat who had green-fluorescent protein genes transformed with his own. The scientists on this project can claim whatever purpose they want for doing this, we all know why they really did it: He's super cute and can't hide from you in the dark. Very helpful when they're eating your shoes at 1 in the morning. Not that I'd know anything about that.

Moving along . . .

I've only been out of the country once in my life. It was fun. Sometimes I wish I did it more often, that I could see more of the world. Then I see stories like this, and I think to myself, "Screw the rest of the world, I'm staying home." We don't EVER see monstrosities like that in Farmland, USA.

So there's your news-lite Saturday. Now go do something fun.

The More Things Change

Ah, you know the drill.

I know I've been absent for a while, but my excuse this time is that I've moved 900 miles away. That'll keep you busy for a while.

Anyhow, I'm mostly settled into Baltimore now. It's a bit strange, but I think I'll manage. You should get some posts out of me relatively soon. I'm still trying to get into a good groove. A regular posting schedule will probably come with the start of school in two weeks. In the mean time, there'll probably be stuff popping up sporadically.

Oh, did I mention I also adopted the world's cutest kitty?

Going once . . . going twice . . .

Sold.

In case you're not the link-followin' type, Anheuser-Busch has been sold to InBev for $49.9B. That's $70/share.

I don't really know what to say about this. It's the nature of the market that such things happen. Still, it would have been nice for the area had ownership been maintained here.

Still, so long as the products remain the same (or improve) and jobs aren't slashed in the region, I guess I have nothing real to complain about.

Here's to you, Mr. Foreign-Conglomerate Guy.

Hip to be square

Last night I went to a concert with an old high school friend. She works for a small record label, Polyvinyl, so going to trendy clubs for concerts is both a common thing and a big deal for her. If you know anything about me, you know that this sort of thing puts me completely out of my element.

After last night, I don't think anything changed that at all.

Perhaps I just don't understand what draws people to certain subcultural trends. It strikes me that a lot of the current 'hipster' trends reflects an attempt to live in ages bygone. I'm not really certain why my generation looks back at previous decades and wistfully dreams of reliving such golden days, but it seems to be the way it is. The 70s seem to bring out the hideous plaid shirts, the beers that are inexplicably being brewed yet, the haircuts (and facial hair) that show a contempt for the barber's tools . . . I don't get it. The 80s bring out too-tight, too-short jeans, Converse All-Stars (as well as other shoes which were probably fished out of a Thrift Store dumpster), etc.

Look, I'm probably the last person who should criticize anyone's fashion tastes. Lord knows my own choices run the gamut from "My sister dressed me at American Eagle" and "I own 1000 silly gamer tees." It's just strange to me how it seems like so much of the hipster scene is an attempt to capture something from the past. I wonder why that is.

Anyhow, to put a cap on this pointless post, I thought I would leave you all with Hipster Bingo. Enjoy!

All of the above?

I was driving back from Chicago the other day and something strange happened to me.

A van began to pass me on the left. While that is not unusual, I was surprised when the passenger put a sign up on her window for me to read.

Horny? We are!

It was then followed by two MySpace addresses. I couldn't tell you what they were, the girls were driving too fast. I was quite confused. Why are these ladies doing this? Are they "adult models?" Hookers? Just looking for a "good time?" Or are they simply attention whores, looking for traffic to their pages?

Hard to say, but it was just very weird.

And yeah, I realize I have squandered my moments of high traffic by not posting on the blog for a while. Surprisingly, I've had a life to occupy my time. Go figure, eh?

Link Dump!

Does anybody remember those old Surge commercials? The title is supposed to sound like that.

Anyhow, I was supposed to be in Baltimore today, but we've had about 24 hours of sleet and ice pounding down on us, so I'm stranded here in SoIL. I've missed some legitimate (and not so legitimate) blogging the last few days/weeks, so I thought I'd just dump some links out on ya'll.

• The Archbishop of Canterbury called for Sharia Lite in Britain. Most sane people wondered what religion he was working for. I'd thought about writing up a detailed rant about how stupid that truly is, but then I read Big Lizards' superb analysis, and I lost heart. Read the whole thing, Dafyyd is a truly excellent writer.
  
  
• Mario Kart is finally coming to the Wii. All is right with the world.
  
  
• Also, nothing gives you a good laugh like making fun of children and their crappy science fair projects. Good times . . . good times.

Everybody was making a big deal about Michelle Obama's comments that she was proud of America "for the first time in her[my] adult life." What fewer people noticed was some of the truly creepy rhetoric she was using in the rest of the speech:

Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.

Well, a Jim Geraghty noticed, although I think Ace's reaction is funnier. A lot of people are speculating that Obama's appeal is more a cult of personality than anything about his qualifications or policy positions. I'm starting to wonder if it isn't true.

Heroes Season Two Wrap-up

It's not in my nature to ruin things for others, so my thoughts will be in the comments.

Advertising Corn

Sorry about the quiet around here. One more exam and I should have a master's degree. Awesome, huh?

Random thought from watching television: Why do crop companies advertise on television?

During The Simpsons' normal premier slot last night, I saw an advertisement by DeKalb about their corn, how superior it was, and how farmers should plant it. I can't help but wonder if this is an effective use of advertising dollars. A commercial during this primetime slot seems like it would be expensive, and how many farmers would be watching? They're not exactly a huge chunk of the population, so they're going to be a proportionally small chunk of The Simpsons' audience. At least, I assume they would be.

Then again, I have no idea what the most "efficient" way of advertising to farmers would be. Any ideas?

I fought the law

. . . And I won.

For those of you who haven't heard the story yet, I was in a car accident back in September.

I live out in the country, so I typically take a two-lane country highway home. September being harvest season, there's a lot of farm equipment that travels on the highway. One Sunday, on my way home from church, I was stuck behind a combine. I wanted to pass, but the traffic in the other direction was too thick. It finally came to the point that I was so close to my turn that I was better off waiting rather than passing. I waited for the combine to get far enough ahead of me so I could see the traffic coming from the other direction was clear.

Unfortunately, when I went to make my left turn, someone further back in the line of traffic decided to pass, and, well, an unstoppable force met an unmoveable object, so to speak.

Pretty nasty looking, huh? I'm glad that driver wasn't going any faster, or I'd be roadkill. Of course, the crazy driver gets out and starts yelling at me. Apparently I shouldn't have let her hit me. My bad.

Long story short, the cop who showed up gave us both tickets. Mine was for "failure to signal." Which was bogus, since the officer took the word of a witness who wavered on that fact and of the other driver, who has a vested interest in saying I didn't signal, over mine.

Anyhow, the ticket was just thrown out, and I'm pretty excited. Take that, state of Illinois!

*Grumble*

I'm not a big fan of the days when I'm stuck in my office studying or grading. I get hungry and have nothing to snack on. Today, I decided to do something about that and actually remembered the dollar sitting in my pocket.

I thought my luck was grand when I saw that a package of peanuts was a dollar. I fed in my money, plugged in my order and . . . watched as my peanuts spun on the spindle and held on from dropping by a hair.

Right now I'm amazed that this even happens outside of television. What a day.

This day in history

Most significant of all: I was born. Awesome. Since some of you might not care as much, I need to make the day relevant to you. So what else happened?

1066 - William the Conqueror invades England . . . interesting.

1867 - Toronto becomes the capital of Canada. Meh.

2003 - Final game played at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. I guess if you're a Pirates fan (all three of you), this is interesting.

Hm . . . apparently if I were Catholic, I'd know that I share feast days with Saints Leoba, Wencenslas, Lorenzo Ruiz, and Aaron of Auxerre. The more you know.

Any other famous birthdays? Hm . . . Confucius in 4BC. Interesting. Let's see, sports star I've never heard of . . . actors I've never heard of . . . oooh. Apparently I share birthdays with Janeane Garofolo (1964), Moon Unit Zappa (1967), Gwyneth Paltrow (1972), and Hilary Duff (1987). Neat.

Okay, maybe it's not that exciting of a day. I find it to be an important day.

Flashy entrance, you say?

I've previously mused on things I'd like to see at my ideal wedding reception. Some people consider limos to be the best way to say, "I'm coming and going in style." More recently, people have opted for the SUV-limo.

Amateurs.

If you're having your big day in London, and you want to show people that you are living la dolce vida, then perhaps you ought to consider this. Nothing will accentuate that blessed day like rolling up in an APC.

And hey, if that drunken relative of yours happens to make a scene at the reception, you can always lay a couple of mines behind his car. Or just crush it. Y'know, whichever is more convenient.

UMSL Student in Russia

I saw this on the local news a few nights ago, but they stated the student was a SLU student. I guess you can't win 'em all.

In any case, an UMSL student is being held in Russia on some rather strange charges. A Chilean national studying in the US, she was living in Russia for a year and bought some Soviet era medals as souvenirs, only to find out at customs on the way out that such was a crime. Since then, she's had a bit of a crazy ride on the way to charges actually being brought against her. Her trial is supposed to begin today.

Want to support her? I'm not entirely certain how. There's a couple of facebook groups/petitions, but I can't imagine what that will accomplish. I'd recommend calling the state department, or perhaps one of Missouri's senators, or even the governor, if you're feeling so inclined.

I'm wishing her the best outcome in this.